Process of melting scrap metal.



ALBERT E. GREENE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

PROCESS OF MELTING SCRAP METAL.

No Drawing.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed June 30, 1910. Serial No. 569,702.

Patented Feb. 27,- 1912.

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, ALBERT E. GREENE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois. have invented a certain new and useful Im rovement in Process of Meltin Scrap etal, of which the following is a ull, clear, concise, and exact descriptlon.

My invention relates to a process of melting steel scrap rich in manganese, silicon or ot er alloys with pig-iron, and convertin the mixture into steel without substantia loss of the alloys.

Steel scrap added tomolten iron can be melted in an electric furnace with a very small power consumption .because of the heat in the iron, but it has been found impractical if not impossible to satisfactorily convert the charge into steel without great loss of one or more of the alloys. My invention provides a simple, efliclent process.

whereby this objection is avoided.

In car ing out my invention," I firs dharge mo ten pig iron into .an electric furnace provided with twyers for blowing the bath. I next add the manganese steel-scrap or other alloy steel-scrap to the molten iron and melt it, using the heat in the iron as far as possible and supplementing the heating by means of electricity. Then, while maintaining the bath molten, I blow the' bath with a gas which will decarburize the metal without substantia' loss of alloys, thereby converting the char e into steel; A gas suitable for this purpose is one coritaining a component. which has reducing properties I with respect to oxide of the alloying metals and also a component which has oxidizing properties with res ect to carbon. Thereducing and the oxi izing components of the gaseous mlxture are pre erably carbon monoxid (CO) and carbon dioxid (C0,) in

such relative proportions that the mixture as a whole will decarburize the molten bath -metals like. silicon, tungsten, titanium, va-

' 21st, 1909, and also is described in my without substantial oxidation of the metallic constituents thereof. The selective oxidation of carbon b means of such gas is set forth in my British-Patent #9508 of April pending application, Serial Number 470,921, filed January 6, 1909. v

- Where the scrap contains acid forming nadium andxthe like, which, in the presence of. basic material, are rapidly eliminated from the metal, it is desirable to start with pi iron suitably free from phosphorus and su fur and to car out the process in an acid lined electric f urnace. But for metals like manganese, nickel, chromium and the like a basic furnace can be used.

In certain cases where the pig iron availablelcontains too much phosphorus and sulfur, I prefer first to remove these impurities from the pig iron by chargin it in a basic lined electric furnace and, a ter adding lime and fiuor spar, blowing it with gas of about the composition of blast furnace gas containing 20% to 25% CO and 10% to 15% 00 as described in my application for patent, Serial N 0. 470,366, filed January 2nd, 1909. During this treatment the temperature. is preferably maintained at about 1300 C. at which temperature the phos horus comes out more readily than carbon. The sulfur may be removed at the same time in combination with calcium -as calcium sulfid CaS). After these impurities are remove to a suitable degree, the process of melt-ing scrap inthe pig iron is carried on as described above. If

t is desired to melt manganese steel-scrap,

-moved from a bath of pig iron and manganese steel-scrap with a loss of less than. 2.5% of the original content of manganese and I have found that at the same time nearly all the siliconcan be retained if d8. sired.- This treatment'pmduces very sound ingots.

It is immaterial what process be'used to remove the hosphorus or sulfur from. the pigi'ron, and I maydo this by treating the pig iron in an electric furnace with ore or scale and lime while keeping the temperature low, and then, without removing the sla melt the scrap and blow outthe carbon wit gas containing a. reducing agent which will hold'the phos horus in the slag.

. It is -understoo that my invention isnot limited to any particular kind of alloy scrap nor to any type of furnace where the temperature can be regulated without oxidizing the alloys to be kept.

no i

i What I claim is:

1. The process of utilizing scra material containing valuable alloys, whic consists in melting the scrap with molten pig iron with the aid of electric heat, and treating the molten bath with a gas containing a reducing agent and an oxidizing agent to decarburize the bath Without substantial loss of said alloying metal.

2. The process of making steel v-from molten pig iron and scrap containing valuable alloying metal, which consists in melting the scrap into the iron by means of the heat in the iron supplemented by electric heat, and finally decarburizing the bath by blowing it with a gas containing reducing and oxidizing components, thereby producing steel without substantial loss of the alloying ingredients.

3. The process of making alloy steel, which consists in charging alloy steel scrap into pig iron in an electric furnace, melting the scrap and through the furnace at gas having reducing properties with respect to the metal, and finally decarburizing thebath by means of a gas suitable for oxidizing the carbon without substantial oxidation of the metal.

4. The process of making manganese steel from pig iron and manganese-steel scrap, which consists in charging manganese steel scrap into molten pig iron, meltin the charge with the aid of electric heat, oxi izing the carbon without substantial loss of manganese by blowing the bath with'a gaseous agent containing a reducing component, and

simultaneously blowing finally melting into the decarburized metal enough term-manganese, corresponding to the Weight of iron charged, to give the de sired percentage of manganese in the steel.

5. The process of making steel from pig ironand scrap, which consists in charging molten pig iron into a basic electric furnace, selectively oxidizing the phosphorus in pref erence to carbon while maintaining the bath molten at a low temperature, then charging into the bath scrap containing the alloying metal which it is desired to retain, and finally decarburizin the bath by blowing it with a gas suitable or oxidizing the carbon but havmg a reducing action on oxids of the metals composing the bath.

6. The process of making steel from pig iron and steel scrap, which consists in charging pig iron containing phosphorus and sulfur into a basic furnace and eliminating the phosphorus at a low temperature from the Inoltenpig iron in preference to the carbon, then transferring the dephosphorized pig iron 'to an acid electric furnace, melting into the molten pig iron, with the aid of electric heat, steel scrap containing the valuable alloying metal which it is desired to retain, and finally decarburizing the bath without substantial loss of the alloying metal.

In Witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this twenty-ninth day of June,

A. D., 1910. r

' ALBERT E. GREENE. Witnesses:

Geo. C. DAVISON, GEORGE E. FOLK. 

